All Forum Posts by: Glenn Mayo

One strategy I've been considering, reluctantly, is staying in my apartment, since my rent is relatively low, finding a qualifying SFH that will cash flow, and grabbing that. Then, depending on circumstances, I'll either refinance it and pull cash out, using some of that cash to rehab the property and some to pad my down payment fund, or rent it out for a while, generating some cash to pad the fund until I can qualify for a refi. It's less than ideal, but it gets me in the game, and THAT'S what matters right now.

I forgot to mention that I'd be doing this while working to get myself into a qualifying multifamily through an FHA loan, so that I can then leave my apartment and start house hacking properly.

That's kind of where I am right now, I think. Thoughts?

 Cal, I was having similar issues, and I wasn't including my rent equivalent, so I couldn't make the numbers work. Are you supposed to include your rent equivalent? If so, I wish I'd known that! Is there a book out there on house hacking or something that tells you HOW to do it right?

Thanks for your reply, Kris. As I'm new, I'm not really sure what the difference is between hard money and private money. I thought hard money lenders were private money lenders. Can you please explain the difference? I would basically only need the hard money (or, add you say, private money) to make the deal happen, as, in this instance, it'd be mostly seller financing. I certainly don't want the kind of problems you're describing, especially since I wouldn't be reselling the home, I'd be renting it out.

A thought just occurred to me, and I thought it would be good to ask the question here, to see if my head is screwed on straight.

Let's say that I come upon a property that meets all the criteria of a good deal - a GOOD deal. Because it's so good, I want to do this deal for myself, not wholesale it and give it away, even though I could make a nice chunk of change doing that. But, being new, I have little money and being a recent student with a new family, iffy credit, so, I'm not going to easily be approved for a loan, and I don't have cash on hand to put down enough to make a creative deal work. Let's say, for the sake of argument, I need $5000 cash to make the deal work creatively. Is this an area where I could use a hard money lender to get the $5000 I need to make the deal work and then, with title in hand, go to a lender and get a refi/rehab loan with the property (with decent equity) securing the debt, allowing me to get the loan, even with weak credit? Of course, the next step would be to pay off the original owner, the HML, and rehab and rent the place. Is this a good use of hard money, or am I fundamentally misunderstanding something?

Ok, all. I'm hearing a lot about these different "rules" that people are applying, more or less stringently, too their deals - things like the 70% rule, or the 2% rule, and several others. I was going to get a thread started where we compile ALL of these rules, along with explanations of each of them, for those of us who are just getting started. So. What do you think?

 Hey Boyd. No, no financing yet. That's been part of our challenge - you know, the whole chicken/egg thing. I just got some recommendations for local lenders, so I'll be reaching out to them in the next few days to see which one works best for us. Hopefully, some of them will understand what we're trying to accomplish and will help us get there.

Just starting out, and looking for an agent who knows the ins and outs of FHA (and similar) loans and can help us find 2 - 4 unit homes. Anyone?

Ok, great. This is the kind of info I need. Thank you, Ryan. (by the way, I'm from Groton. I grew up in Poquonnock Bridge, New London, and Norwich). 

What I need to know is, what is the FIRST step in getting an FHA loan? Do I contact a real estate agent first, a mortgage company, or something else? Also, since my wife and I are interested in 2 - 4 unit homes at this stage (so that we can house hack), does FHA take the rental income into account or no?

Alright. I've heard that FHA guarantees loans for 3.5% down, even to buyers with weak credit. I've also heard that there's another kind of loan called an FNMA Homestyle loan, and that the USDA also offers zero down loans to rural areas. My question is, how do you go about getting those loans? What's the procedure for securing these loans and finding properties? Do you just go to a real estate agent and say, "Hey, I'm trying to buy a house with an FHA loan" and they do the rest, or what? As you can tell, I'm pretty much clueless on this, so any and all information would be greatly appreciated.

...but how do you deal with fear of success? Honestly, that's my biggest fear. It's hard enough to articulate or explain; how do you deal with it? What do YOU do (or WHAT have you done)?